Robin Hood Vampire Killer: The Phoney Vampire King of England: Part 2: The Horrors of Sherwood

As the sun rose over the forest Much awoke from a night of haunted, restless sleep in the tiny, damp cave he had hidden himself in.

When it had gotten dark the previous night, Much who by this point was completely lost in Sherwood forest sought to find a shelter of some kind out of fear. He knew he probably wouldn’t find his family in the dark, but the Vampires would most likely find him.

Some Vampire breeds could only come out at night and thus this was their time to hunt.

These Vampires naturally had better vision in the dark than humans and they knew the woods well. As Much crept slowly through the woods he heard screams coming through the dark. Other unfortunate souls who had evaded the soldiers but ran straight into one of the Vampires. His body was shaking with fear but he knew he had to get away as he was a sitting duck.

Through the branches he could see in the distance a young man who had been cornered by three Vampires. They had him on the ground and were literally ripping chunks out of his flesh. The man constantly tried to fight the monsters off, but it was futile against the Vampires inhuman strength.

Much wanted to be sick, but he began to slowly walk back, desperately trying not to make a noise and alert the Demons.

Once he got a decent distance away he ran through the woods in sheer fear until he came upon a large cave. He wasn’t sure if he should hide in it. What if there were Vampires in there? As he heard more Vampires behind him in the woods however, he ran into the cave almost without thinking. He just needed to get out of the forest where death could literally be lurking around every corner!

He could barely see inside the cave that was full of rocks and damp, but he kept walking through it until he reached the very end of the cave. In retrospect it was a foolish thing to do as if any Vampires did enter the cave then he would be cornered and have no way of escape. Still he wasn’t thinking and basically wanted to hide in the deepest, and darkest hole in order to escape the monsters. Fortunately the cave appeared to be completely empty.

He hid behind a large rock at the very end of the cave. His fear kept him awake for many hours, but he eventually collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

When he awoke the next morning he stayed in the cave for hours sitting behind his rock. If he could he would have stayed cowering behind his rock for the rest of his life.

He wanted to explore the forest and find his family, but each time he worked up the courage to try and leave, his mind thought back to the man being literally pulled apart by the ravenous Vampires and he sat back down again shaking with fear.

Juts when he thought he would never budge he heard something that made him want to leave the cave right away, a groaning sound from the other end. Someone was in there with him.

He peered round the corner of the rock very slowly. The cave was still pitch black even during the day time, but he could see just at the end of the cave a figure stumbling around in the dark. He had clearly tripped and fallen over one of the rocks in the dark, but was bringing himself back up.

He suddenly realised much to his horror where he was. Clearly this was where the nocturnal Vampires slept during the day. There was nothing he could do now. There was no way out and clearly the Vampire knew he was here as it was heading in his direction.

Much’s fear overwhelmed him and he decided to run for the sunlight hoping he could reach it in time before the Vampire found him.

As he darted for the door the figure ran in his direction and grabbed him. He let out a scream that echoed throughout the entire cave and into the forest, but within seconds his fear turned to relief as he soon saw the figure was not a Vampire, but his father, Bancroft.

Much’s family had been searching for him for hours. They too had been forced to hide from the Vampires in the middle of the night, but it had been easier for them as they were part of a large group of outlaws who had managed to escape the camp together.

As soon as day broke they began to search for Much and others who had gotten lost in the attack. Much’s father had luckily stumbled on the cave not knowing his son was in there. He simply investigated it to see if any survivors were in there, not really thinking that he would find anyone least of all his own son. Ironically he almost didn’t venture into the cave as like Much he had feared that there may be Vampires lurking in there.

Fortunately he made the right decision and he and Much after hugging quickly left the cave to reunite with the others.

The main group had camped out nearby. Many of them wanted to keep moving, arguing that the last time they just sat around they were picked off by the Vampires minions.

Still when Much returned to the outlaws along side his father, there was a great relief from the entire camp which numbered close to 30, not just from his family.

His little sister Aida hugged Much the hardest. She and Much had always been very close and the previous night had been the worst of her entire life, in fact she didn’t manage to sleep the entire night she was so worried about Much. She spent the night sobbing and hugging her mother.

Much couldn’t believe that he had found his family. He genuinely thought that he would never see his loved ones again. When he wasn’t consumed with fear at the thought of the Vampires catching him, he constantly thought about his family and feared the worst. Whilst he knew this nightmare was far from over he couldn’t contain the sheer joy simply at knowing those dearest to him were okay.

Sadly the joy would be short lived as little did Much and his friends know something had followed him to the camp.

It had been the Vampire he had seen fleetingly last night just before John had grabbed him. This Vampire was once again a different breed to both the Sheriff and the nocturnal Vampires. There were a grand total of 12 different Vampire breeds living in the land of Albion. Normally the Vampire breeds did not work together. They were such selfish and vicious creatures they preferred to work alone, but the Vampires naturally when John became king began to unite like never before.

He had been the one who had told the Sheriff about John letting Much go. Unfortunately for John he had been so focused on catching Much he failed to notice the Vampire in the distance who saw him spare the boy. After the Vampire had ratted out John, the Vampire had used its fantastic sense of smell to retrace where Much was. He thought about killing him in his sleep, but decided to spare him in the hope that he might lead him to more outlaws, and so he waited by the cave all night.

His gamble had paid off and now he had found all of the remaining survivors. He just wanted to wait for the right moment to strike. Like all Vampires he was a relentless sadist but he didn’t know how to let these people, who were celebrating having found one of their own, know that they were anything but safe. He wanted to scare and play with them for as long as he could.

That opportunity presented itself when he saw another one of the outlaws returning to the camp. This outlaw, a young blonde man named Jeffrey had much like Bancroft been searching the forest for other possible survivors. Jeffrey was one of the youngest, strongest and bravest men in the village and was happy to search for the others. His mother Kirsten however of course did not want him to go off into Sherwood forest by himself, but he assured her that he would be careful. He had always been a kind and caring soul who put the others ahead of himself which had always made him very popular in Alsner, but sadly his bravery was also motivated by the fact that he didn’t really realise the full horror of the situation he was in.

All he had found whilst exploring Sherwood forest were the remains of the poor soul cornered by the nocturnal Vampires the previous night. The Vampires hadn’t left much of him to find, just a few blood stained bones on the forest floor.

Unfortunately Jeffrey would suffer a similar fate just as he was about to return to camp when the Vampire, that had followed Much, that had now climbed to the top of a tree, quickly crawled down and grabbed Jeffrey by placing both of its hands around his head.

Before he could even react the Vampire pulled him up into the trees. As strong as Jeffrey was he was no match for the Demonic strength of the undead monster who effortlessly overpowered him. The rest of the outlaws were soon alerted to Jeffrey’s screams that came from the trees alongside the Vampires hideous cackling.

Kristen kept calling for Jeffrey, her calls becoming more hysterical and erratic by the second, whilst several of the other men in the group began to split up and cover the area to try and find him.

Just then however Jeffrey’s screaming stopped. Kristen’s terror only increased during the silence. She couldn’t bare it any longer and kept screaming for him to come out. Just when her despair seemingly couldn’t get any worse, then the Vampire hung her son by his legs upside down in front of all of the villagers. Kristen let out an ear piercing scream and even vomited as she looked at the worst sight that she would ever see, that of her son, strung up like an animal, his guts torn out, the skin on his face ripped off!

The Vampire dropped Jefffrey’s body to the floor and leaped from the tree’s at a tremendous speed, almost like a flash onto the largest man in the middle of the crowd. It overpowered him in seconds and tore his head clean off his shoulders in front of the horrified outlaws.

The creature was completely grey skinned and hairless, as well as naked. It had large, yellow, cruel eyes and long razor sharp talons. Its face and hands were literally caked in blood and the beast also much like the Sheriff had a foul stench about it. The monster let out another high pitched, demented cackle before it jumped at another one of the people there, a young woman. This time 4 of the men ran towards the monster and tried to pull it off her, but not only was it able to slash her throat and kill her before they could help, but the beast sent the first two of them flying through the air with one swipe of its hand, and tore the arm off of the third and then punched his fist straight through the head of the final man who lunged at it.

The rest of the outlaws ran in fear realising that there was no way any of them could hope to fight this inhuman monster, all except for Kristen who simply sat on the ground completely motionless. She didn’t even acknowledge the Vampire as it crept slowly towards her hoping to frighten her. The beast hissed at her, even slashed her across the face with its claws and still she did not react. It had completely broken her with what it had done to her son, and she simply no longer wished to live anymore. When the monster literally ripped her heart out from her chest it was actually putting her out of her misery.

The rest of the villagers ran wildly through the forest. They still tried to stick together as none of them wanted to be alone but some of them in their panic ended up getting lost and were picked off rather easily by the Vampire.

The Vampire had once again climbed to the very tops of the trees in the forest and would occasionally just when the villagers though they had gotten clear of it jump down and kill another one of them. It would kill them suddenly and brutally often by snapping their necks or punching a whole in their chests. Sometimes it would drag them back up to the trees where it would prolong their agony, but as the humans ran it didn’t have time to savour its kills which it was disappointed with, but at the same time the beast relished in the fear of the surviving villagers, all of whom were aware that they could be next.

Eventually the Vampire grew tired of these games. Not wanting to finish its prey off right away the Vampire decided to leave the surviving villagers for now, planning to return to them the next time it got bored. Its superior sense of smell would allow it to track them from miles away which of course none of them were aware of. The monster loved letting them think that they had escaped before the next time he attacked.

The Vampire had killed 12 villagers in total. Much and his family were among the “lucky” survivors, but they were still completely lost. Many of them felt it was hopeless going on as there was simply no way to either fight or escape the Vampires. Others had lost their loved ones and no longer had any will left.

The Vampire had killed all of the strongest and oldest members of their group in its attack (no doubt in a further effort to crush their morale.) Much’s own father, Bancroft was now the oldest member of the village left. He was a quiet, unassuming, somewhat shy, ordinary man. Certainly not a natural leader, but he felt that he had to assume control as if they didn’t all stick together then the Vampires or some other horror lurking in the forest would surely get them.

Bancroft yelled over the villagers cries and screams. He wanted to try and assure them that they could not give up now and said

“None of us could have ever foreseen the nightmare we are living in, but it is simply not an option to give up. Those monsters can not be reasoned with. They want for nothing except to see us suffer. I can’t promise that we will all survive, or if even any of us will live through this, but is it not better to never give those Demons the satisfaction? To show them that they will never truly win as we will always try and find a way to survive?”

Not all of the villagers were exactly roused by his speech, but it did get through to them the reality of their situation, that they were dealing with an enemy that simply could not be appeased. It was only a matter of time before the Vampires would come for all the humans they now ruled, even those who paid their taxes. Since the few surviving villagers of Alsner were in no position to fight the Vampires they had no choice but to move on and try and find somewhere to hide until this madness was over.

They continued to trek through the forest. Though Much, like the rest of his people was terrified of the Vampire coming back and jumping from above on top of them, he still nevertheless felt more secure than the previous night. It wasn’t even simply because he felt safer in a large group but really more the fact that he was with his family, meant that even if the monsters did catch him, now he wouldn’t die alone.

The group continued to wander throughout the entire day. As night began to fall they started to panic, having found no shelter and knowing that the nocturnal Vampires would be out soon.

Just as it seemed like the forest would never end then Bancroft managed to spot a castle in the distance.

This was fortunately not Prince John’s castle. It was much smaller and look disused. It would be the perfect shelter for this night at least. Bancroft however needed to make sure that it was deserted. For all he knew it could have been the place the nocturnal Vampires rested during the day.

He told the others to wait here whilst he explored it to his family’s distress. Much begged Bancroft to let him go. Much was still just as scared as ever but, having been reunited with his family he was determined never to lose them again. Bancroft however was adamant that no one else risk their life, least of all his son, after what happened to Jeffrey. He also told them to leave if he was not back within 20 minutes.

The castle was at the bottom of a large hill. It consisted of a single relatively small, crumbling tower and a small fort.

As he neared the castle he could see through the windows some signs of life, namely a fireplace that was lit.

This gave him some hope as after all it doesn’t seem likely that it was the nocturnal Vampires base as they obviously wouldn’t need a fireplace to help them see in the dark. Still that didn’t mean that the owners of the castle were necessarily friendly.

Bancroft walked around the side of the castle to see if there was another entrance that he could use. As he reached the back of the castle he suddenly saw a figure in the distance aiming a bow and arrow at him. It wasn’t a Vampire, Vampires always prefer to use their claws and fangs to rip their victims to pieces, but it also wasn’t one of their human minions either as he wasn’t dressed in the standard uniform of their soldiers. He was dressed in quite ratty clothes with holes in them, his hair which was jet black was also long and unkempt as was his beard.

He spoke in a deep booming voice and said in a very sharp and aggressive tone to Bancroft.

“Who are you? What are you doing? Are you with them? Answer me!”

Bancroft was a little bit thrown but he still managed to keep his cool and respond to the man, that he was from a village that had been raised by Vampires, and that he and his family were on the run. Bancroft felt that the person aiming the bow at him was not evil and could perhaps be reasoned with. He didn’t know why exactly, but just for whatever reason he did not fear him.

Sure enough the man lowered the bow and simply said to Bancroft to fetch the others and be quick.

Before Bancroft left he asked the man his named and he replied.

“Robin, Robin Hood”

The villagers were elated at finally having some shelter. As they entered the main hall of the castle they were greeted by Robin and a younger man beside him who was shorter, had blonde hair and was named Will Travel.

The castle had one main hall, which had a large dinner table in the middle of it and two bedrooms side by side at the back wall on one end, and a long corridor which led to the back door on the other end of the back wall. On the left hand side of the corridor was a door that led to the kitchen, whilst on the right hand side of the corridor was a stair case that led to the very top of the castle. On the same end of the main hall as the corridor was another stair case that led down to a dungeon beside the fireplace.

The main hall was lit with candles on the dinner table as well as the fire place. The stone of the castle was damp and crumbling. The inside was barely decorated , with only a few old paintings on the wall which had deteriorated beyond any kind of recognition. The castle had clearly been abandoned long before the Vampires had taken over.

Robin told them that they could stay here for only one night and that they would have to go hungry tonight, as there was only enough food for he and Will and he wasn’t prepared to go out hunting in the dark.

Robin seemed quite uncomfortable around the strangers. Deep down he knew he had to help them, but he still found it hard due to his own previous experiences.

Robin had been on the run since before the Vampires had taken over. He had tried to warn people about the Vampires growing power but no one had listened to him.

Robin had been aware of the supernatural since he was a child. He had come from a fairly privileged background with his parents both being Lords. The three of them lived in together in a lavish mansion which even had its own library! Robin’s families wealth stretched back generations and the library contained books on a wide range of subjects including the occult. They never let it be known to any of the people of the village that they had books on the supernatural however for fear of being seen as sorcerers.

Robin had first developed an interest in the occult as a boy one night when his father read him an old book about Demons. His father would often read the young Robin books from their library to entertain him. One night he thought he would read him a scary story. The book was a first hand account by a man who who had escaped a village, that’s mayor had been possessed by a Demon and later managed to open a portal to a Hell universe which allowed many other members of his kind to take over the people of the village. The villagers who were possessed slaughtered the rest of the villagers, with only two people, the author of the story and his daughter managing to escape. Robin’s father hoped that aside from being a good scary story, that it might help the boy later in life, if he knew what was really lurking in the dark.

The young Robin was not scared by the story however. Instead he was enthralled. He found the idea of there being these creatures from another universe fascinating and would later insist that his father read him more monster stories. After Robin learned how to read himself he would continue to study the paranormal in great detail.

At first his obsession with the supernatural was just a typical boy’s interest in scary monsters. He even used to pretend he was some of the monsters he read about when he played with his friends, though his parents always advised him against this.

As he got older however he saw that the stories were really true as he began to recognise the tell tale signs of the monsters influence across his homeland.

His parents often warned him against seeking out and actively confronting paranormal creatures. His father always from when he first told him about the monsters, said that he wanted his son to know about the supernatural, so that if he was ever cornered by one he would know how to escape, however he said at the same time that it would not be wise to take them on when there was no need to.

Robin’s father’s advice to his son was always be smart enough to realise when the paranormal are around, but keep away from them at all times.

Sadly Robin did not heed his father’s warning and would often try and educate his friends and the people around him about what was really out there, though at the very least he never told people how he knew about the occult, so as not to implicate his parents. Sadly most people simply did not want to hear about the paranormal as they foolishly bought the lie that the supernatural menace was under control and at best was a minor threat. Many also grew suspicious of Robin for having such an extensive knowledge of the occult, but it would not be until after his first proper confrontation with a Vampire that the people would turn on Robin.

The Vampire in question was another lord named Goodwin. Goodwin was the most powerful man in Robin’s village who used his status to cover up his gruesome killings and true identity. Goodwin was also served by a Werewolf named Milah.

Robin had discovered that Goodwin was a Vampire when a woman named Clorinda came to him for help. Clorinda was a humble shepherdess that had lost her daughter Harriet many years ago to the Vampire but naturally she had no way of proving it or of doing anything against the monster.

After hearing Robin constantly go on about the dangers that Vampires and Demons still posed, she hoped that he might be able to avenge her daughter. Robin’s other great love aside from studying supernatural creatures had been archery. He had spent countless hours using training until he eventually became arguably the most skilled archer in Albion.

He would use this skill to slay Goodwin when he managed to sneak into the Demons castle. Knowing that he could never take a Vampire in a one on one fight due to their inhuman strength, he fired a wooden arrow at the beasts heart, killing him stone dead.

Though Robin managed to escape the castle unseen by the Vampires guards, unfortunately he was unaware of Goodwin’s Werewolf servant Milah. Milah was able to track the archer by scent back to his home and plotted revenge. Milah and Goodwin had not had a positive relationship, but still Milah nevertheless felt some actual grief over his undead master’s death, as ultimately in a perverse way Goodwin had been the only one who had ever really accepted him for who he was.

Milah had been a loving family man before his transformation into a Werewolf. He had become infected with the curse of lycanthropy when a Werewolf had settled in the woods near his village. This Werewolf had given up all pretense of humanity and even in its human form, it lived like an animal. Milah had been part of a group of men from the village who were hunting the Wolf when it attacked and infected him. Though he managed to stab it to death, unfortunately he was now the very thing that had terrorised his village and killed its people. He tried to hide it, but eventually the village discovered what he had become and turned on him. The people he grew up with, his friends, even his own family, they all drove him out into the wild.

In the wild Milah found himself on the run not just from humans, but Demons too. Demons shunned Werewolves, due to the fact that the poison in Werewolves claws and fangs, which turned human beings fortunate enough to survive a Werewolf attack (or unfortunate enough depending on how you view it) into members of their own kind, was lethal to most Demons.

Vampires however were completely immune to the poison and so they would often shelter Werewolves from both Demons and humans in exchange for their services. In spite of the cruel way the Vampire had treated him, Milah in some small way had felt accepted by Goodwin more than anyone else as a result. Even his own wife had tried to stab him to death in front of their child when she found out he was a Werewolf. Milah also naturally appreciated the security and wealth that came with living with Goodwin too.

Now it was all gone thanks to Robin and Milah was determined to make him pay. Rather than risk exposing himself as a Werewolf to the villagers by waiting for the full moon to attack him, Milah instead not only claimed that Robin had killed Goodwin, but that he had used magic to do it. He argued that since Robin knew so much about the paranormal and had such an unusual interest in the occult, that he was sorcerer.

Most of the villagers already disliked Robin and so they were ready to believe it and use any excuse to bring him down. Eventually on Milah’s urging they stormed Robin’s house and captured his parents. Once they raided his library they found his books on Witchcraft and Demons it was enough to accuse the entire family of sorcery.

Robin’s parents were dragged out into the street and beaten to death for turning their child into a Demon. Before they could string Robin up he was rescued by Clorinda who rode him out of town on a horse. Clorinda felt it was the least she could do after he had avenged her daughter. She was also in no way sorry to say goodbye to her home village not least of all because it was filled with horrible memories of losing her daughter, but also because she too much like Robin had grown tired of the ignorant villagers around her.

Together Clorinda and Robin would spend many years on the run throughout Albion. The two eventually fell in love on their travels. Clorinda was many years older than Robin. In fact she was old enough to be his mother. Due to the age difference she tried to hide her feelings for Robin for a long while.

He had always been open about his feelings for her and it hadn’t take Robin long to fall for her either. The reason Robin fell for Clorinda quite so intensely was because she was the only person he had ever felt a true connection with. He did have friends in his village, but they were really nothing more than acquaintances and he was often too frustrated with the general ignorance of the villagers. Robin could see that things were changing and it was an overwhelming relief when he finally came across another person who could see it too.

Eventually Clorinda couldn’t deny her feelings for Robin and the two entered into a relationship that lasted for many years. They would continue to battle Vampires, Demons, and other supernaturals together across all of Albion, with Robin training Clorinda to become a highly skilled fighter and archer too.

The two would even become seen as heroes in certain areas, but sadly overall they were viewed as outlaws and eventually the two would be captured.

They were betrayed ironically by a peasant named Jack whose daughter they had saved from a Demon. Jack had heard stories of Robin being a sorcerer, so terrifying that his own village had chased him away to die.

Even though he had slain a local Demon that had been preying on the children, Jack still stupidly believed that Robin had summoned the Demon himself, and that he had only vanquished it as a further trick, to lure them all into a false sense of security before setting it on them again.

He was able to trick Robin and Clorinda by inviting them to his house for dinner as a thank you for “saving” his son. Jack with the aid of some of the police forces who were after Robin and Clorinda, had drugged their wine. After it had knocked them out he handed them over to the local authorities.

Robin and Clorinda were found guilty of practising black magic and sentenced to hanging. Robin was able to escape thanks to the aid of a young thief he had been imprisoned beside named Will Travel. Travel was a criminal but he had only ever stole from the wealthiest, and he always made sure that no one got hurt in any of his schemes.

He liked to claim it was because he had honour, but in truth it was simply because he naturally wanted to steal from the wealthiest and was brave and foolhardy enough to attempt it, and skilled enough to get away with it.

Unfortunately for Will however as he had humiliated some of the most wealthy and powerful people in Albion, they demanded that he be killed when he was finally caught. Will had in turn only been captured because he had been betrayed by a member of his gang of thieves. The powerful people he had angered were able to use their influence to make sure that Will was sentenced to death by hanging.

With Travels help, Robin was able to escape the prison, but sadly they were both unable to save Clorinda in time, and Robin ended up watching her hang from a distance.

Robin was completely crushed by his beloved’s death. In fact he only survived because of Will, who pulled him away from running towards her hanging, lifeless body and exposing the both of them.

Will and Robin together would escape the village and travel together eventually settling in the ruins of an old abandoned castle in the middle of Sherwood forest.

Robin became a recluse within the castle, whilst Will made it his new base to steal from. Robin no longer cared about anything after Clorinda’s death, least of all helping the people who had taken the woman he loved away from him.

How he wished he had followed his parents advice and simply not bothered to fight against the monsters lurking in the woods of Albion.

If he had done then both of his parents and the woman he loved would all still be here. What was worse was that none of them had died at the hands of monsters, but the humans Robin had tried to protect!

Robin vowed to never interfere again. Not so much out of bitterness, but more because he didn’t want to lose anything else, though he also in many ways felt that he had nothing to lose. Unlike Will he basically retreated into the castle, only venturing out to hunt for food and nothing else. Eventually however as the Vampires took over Will also began to retreat into the castle too simply for his own safety. Will found the Vampires harder to steal from, with his final raid on a Vampires castle before he became a recluse very nearly resulting in his death.

The two were able to remain hidden in their crumbling castle, whilst the rest of Albion fell before the unearthly, unnatural menace of the Vampire.

Occasionally a Vampire would stray near Robin’s castle, but fortunately his expertise of the occult allowed him to either slay the beast, or hide he and Will from it.

When he saw the villagers approaching, Robin was initially hesitant to help them, out of fear more than anything else. Still despite his bitter experiences, Robin was a good man at heart and the sight of the villagers, men, women and children huddled together like animals, out in the cold, with nowhere to go, couldn’t do anything but move him. Will however was against the idea.

Will had always basically looked out for number one. He was not malicious, he was simply practical to the extent that he did appear ruthless to those around him. He was naturally scared that they may turn on Robin because of his reputation. He wasn’t a physical coward, but mentally he put his survival above all else. He had only joined up with Robin ironically because he believed that Robin was a powerful sorcerer and hoped that he would be a useful ally.

When he soon saw this wasn’t true, he still stayed with Robin as he felt the Vampire killer might be a useful ally too, and because due to his reputation as a criminal, virtually no one else would bother with him.

Still he and Robin did have respect for each other, though they didn’t always see eye to eye or even enjoy each others company and in this instance Travel was adamant about not letting the villagers in.

Robin did heed Travel’s warning to some extent. In order to be sure that the villagers wouldn’t turn on him he approached Bancroft first, alone. He knew that it would be pointless to try and lie about his identity as there were wanted pictures of him around so many towns.

When he got no visible reaction from Bancroft he decided to help him. He didn’t believe Bancroft was hiding anything and since Bancroft was clearly the leader he felt that if he didn’t know anything about Robin, then no one else in the village would be likely to act.

Still despite this after Robin let the villagers in he and Will still sealed themselves below in the dungeon with a massive steel door after barely saying a word to them. There was still a small window in the dungeon which Will and Robin could escape from even if the villagers still did manage to break down the door.

Will naturally was unhappy with the arrangement. He continued to berate Robin saying that the villagers could still burn down the castle. Robin however simply responded that they were desperate and needed their help.

Will however was not convinced and said something that cut right through Robin’s very soul.

“What about the man who betrayed you? Whose son you had rescued? He owed you everything, you spared him the most horrible fate that could befall anyone, losing their child. How did he thank you? Handed you and your beloved over to people who wanted your heads”

Will could see his words were having an effect on Robin and so he carried on.

“ I don’t want to end up like Clorinda, Robin. Dying in agony because of a misplaced generosity to people who don’t deserve it. These people are idiots. You want to help them because Vampires are after them? I say so what! They had the chance to do something about the monsters when they were just pests lurking in the woods, but they let the Demons spread, they turned on and tried to kill good men who wanted to help them, and now when the inevitable has happened they want us to shelter them? Let the Vampires eat the fools. Let them see the folly of their ways.”

Robin glared at Will. On the one hand he was angry at him for bringing up such painful memories, but on the other he did understand his point in some way. He simply said back to Will.

“Its only for one night. Then they are gone. If you want them out Will go up there and throw them out in the dark with the Vampires running around yourself.”

And with that the two sat down and ate the meal Robin had made for them, a roasted deer he had killed earlier with his bow. The two didn’t exchange a word during their meal. The two did not even really like each other that much. The castle was the perfect base for them as they often didn’t have to spend any time together. Now however they were forced into the one tiny room. Neither of them could think of anything to say.

They simply had nothing in common with each other, and only really one shared experience which Robin definitely did not want to talk about. Indeed Robin didn’t like to talk about much since Clorinda’s death. Travel almost wished the villagers would try and kill them just to ease the awkwardness of the situation.

Upstairs the villagers were relieved to finally be in doors. Travel did not have anything to worry about from them. The village of Alsner had had wanted signs of Robin up like many others, but most of its people couldn’t even remember them any more. That had seemed like a whole life time ago. The Vampires were obviously the upper most on everyone’s mind and even if any of the villagers had remembered that Robin was a wanted man they probably wouldn’t have cared, as staying with him was still preferable to taking their chances outside with the undead.

Bancroft knew that they weren’t safe and so he decided to stay up and keep watch in case any Vampires strayed near the castle.

Much was the only member of the group who wasn’t happy at being inside the castle. Whilst he did not like being outdoors either, the fact that the castle was so big frightened him. There could be Vampires lurking in the kitchen or in the dungeon. Also in the forest there was always an open space to flee, whilst here if the beasts cornered them it would be over. Much had difficulty sleeping. He asked his father if he could stay up and watch with him, but Bancroft refused and told him he needed to get at least one night’s decent sleep.

As Much lay down on the castle floor he wondered if he did sleep, that he would ever wake up again.

Later that night after everyone in the castle save for Much and his father fell asleep, out in the woods, the Vampire that had pursued the villagers earlier and had killed Jeffrey was making its way towards the castle. It had finished feeding on its previous kills and was now ready to finish the others off.

The Vampire saw the castle from the distance and realised that the people were hiding in there. He was licking his lips with the excitement, dribbling at the thought of surprising the humans just when they thought they had escaped him and cornering them and their children in the very place they hoped would be their sanctuary.

However much to his horror just as he prepared to sneak into the castle he saw a band of Vampires led by none other than the Sheriff of Nottingham himself heading through the woods towards the castle.

The Vampire was devastated. He wanted the humans all to himself and he knew that the Sheriff would not share any of them with him. He was angry and even felt an urge to kill the Sheriff for stealing his prey, but he knew that he wouldn’t stand a chance against him and rather than provoke the Sheriffs ire he decided to wait out of sight behind one of the trees. Perhaps some of the humans would be lucky enough to flee the castle, only to be unlucky enough to run into him?